Very Best Chocolate Fudge Sauce Recipe

As far as I’m concerned, everything is better with chocolate. Now, much can’t be said about this chocolate sauce, other than- it’s really good! There is no grand story as to how this was created. I had a craving for ice cream covered in chocolate sauce and a smattering of green pistachios, right after a baking failure, and so this chocolate fudge sauce was created.

The past few weeks have been quite interesting with recipe testing for Hand Made. I’ve been trying to get all of the chocolate recipes done; the other day, I decided that I’d use the chocolate I melted for a group of photos, to make brownies. The ratio of eggs, chocolate, flour, sugar, and cocoa powder seemed perfect as I mixed the batter together. The batter tasted like heaven. 15-minutes into baking, I realized I forgot one of the most important ingredients in my batter– butter. I convinced myself that things would be fine, but after so many successful recipe tests, which all started off with me literally throwing things together, I knew something had to fail.

After cooling the chocolate confection disaster, I sliced a corner off, and prayed that the promising dark chocolate crumb meant all would be fine. After literally .2936 seconds of having the small piece of brownie in my mouth, I felt my salivary glands and my taste buds wither into nothingness. I don’t know how, but I somehow managed to bake a brownie that tasted like the product of Chocolate and Chalk procreating.

After my first and last (thankfully) brownie failure, I decided it would be appropriate to heal my taste buds with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

This chocolate sauce recipe is quite easy to remember, as it (conveniently) requires most of the ingredients to be ⅓ cup.

It all starts with chopping 3.5 ounces (100g) of luscious dark chocolate and earthy-brown cocoa powder being mixed together in a heatproof bowl over simmering water.

Once the pool of chocolate has melted, golden syrup is mixed in. After that, a slug of cream, an avalanche of snow-white confectioner’s sugar, a splash of vanilla, and a pinch of sea salt are mixed into the sweet chocolate puddle.

Once everything is mixed together, it’s poured onto waiting cups filled with scoops of hand made ice cream. Everything is then sprinkled with pistachios, sliced almonds, and chopped almonds.

Now, I might have alarmed a few of you with the golden syrup. Golden syrup is one of those ingredients you have passed in the isle with maple syrup, honey, and pancake syrups, at your local grocery store / supermarket, without paying it any mind. Here in Middle-of-Nowhere, New Jersey, it’s nearly impossible for me to find certain ingredients, but Golden Syrup doesn’t fall under my list of hard-to-find ingredients. I can find it at all of our local supermarkets and grocery stores without a problem. This sweet, mellow amber elixir is basically cane sugar syrup, and it’s perfect on pancakes (I dare you to try it with your pancakes this weekend!), and in this instance- adds a lot of depth to this chocolate sauce. If you do have trouble finding golden syrup (I use Lyles), feel free to use light corn syrup or light agave nectar in place of it.

As a side note: I have to thank you all for the kind comments; funny, inspiring emails; sweet tweets, and messages over the past couple weeks regarding my post about Hand Made. All of them touched my heart and re-inspired me to do what I love. And that is: sharing recipes and snippets of my life with you. So, thank you! :)

As another side note: I’ll be in San Francisco next week; any recommendations for places to eat and visit?

As stated in the post, Golden Syrup should be quite easy to find (it’s usually near the pancake syrups, honeys, etc. At the grocery store). If you can’t find it, light corn syrup or light agave nectar will work well, too.

Although Dark Chocolate with 70% cocoa content may seem a little too dark for any milk chocolate lover’s liking, that is not the case–I find it works perfectly, especially since it is diluted a bit by the cream and the other ingredients. 70% cocoa content is ideal, but if you don’t have that on hand, use whatever you have– I wouldn’t go below 64% cocoa content, though.

Place the chopped dark chocolate and cocoa powder in a heatproof bowl over simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) and heat until the chocolate has melted.

With the pan off the heat, stir in the golden syrup, followed by the heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt.

Transfer to a glass jar or heatproof container with a lid, and serve over the ice cream of your choice. Can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days (that is, if you’re not sharing!). Re-warm before serving.

Anne- there are quite a few brands that I like. I prefer Valrhona (can be found online, at Whole Foods, and at Trader Joe’s), however these are some of the other brands that I like: Green & Black’s (can be found just about anywhere), Scharffen Berger, Callebaut, El Rey, Endangered Species Chocolate (can be found at Whole Foods, and Stop & Shop), and E. Guittard. I hope that helps! :)

Oh, I forgot about that substitution. As a matter of fact, I had to substitute about 1/3 of the golden syrup with light agave nectar, as we ran out… Anyway, will include that in the recipe notes! So glad you liked it! :)

I might have to make that one next time. the recipe i recently used from epicurious was just too sweet. as far as restaurant suggestions in San Fran, i can only give you a list of the places i’ve been dying to try the next time i’m there (i wish). probably already on your list: Chez Panisse, Zuni cafe, bi-rite creamery, and mission chinese food (a little farther off the beaten path). Have a wonderful time, it is truly a lovely city. also, if you have never been, visiting alcatraz is a blast. i went last year with a friend and it was a fun adventure, if a bit touristy. we also enjoyed just taking a walk in the late afternoon and stopping in Grace cathedral when it got a little rainy.

Hi Amanda- I don’t think this is too cloying, but do add the powdered sugar to your taste if you do feel the recipe might need less. :)

Also, thanks so much for the restaurant suggestions! Have been dying to go to Chez Pannise and Zuni Café! Will also see if I can visit alcatraz, as well. Not sure I’ll have enough time, but I’m sure I’d love it! Thanks again! :)

Gail- Oh, trust me, my friend– while eating the ice cream, I end up pouring more chocolate sauce on with every spoonful, so I’m totally with you on more chocolate sauce! In the photos, I poured some on the bottom of the ice cream, in between the scoops of ice cream, and on top, and still wasn’t enough for me! :)

Kam – food failures are great. because, in essence, it really makes you realize how amazing that missing ingredient makes the dish. love the idea of the chocolate sauce. did i miss reading, or maybe not, but how long would you keep this in the fridge?

Olga- every time I’ve made this (about 10 times since I made the photos), it’s only lasted up to three days in our refrigerator, as we can’t get enough of the stuff! A couple of times, we kept it out, covered on the counter for a few days, and everything was fine. I suspect the sauce will keep good for about 5 days or so, but again, it’s never lasted more than three days in our house because we love our chocolate sauce! :)

I couldn’t stop laughing yesterday when you told the whole story about your brownie disaster and chocolate and chalk making love and I still can’t stop laughing reading this :-) This chocolate fudge sauce looks sinful though!
And OH MY GOSH, I want that tray! Its gorgeous!!

As for SF, I have a few recommendations/highlights depending on what you’re looking for: Hong Kong Flower Lounge for fantastic dim sum (get the taro cake and chicken wings); Outerlands for beautiful food by the beach (also check out Trouble Coffee Company and the General Store next door if there’s a wait at Outerlands (there almost always is, but it’s absolutely worth it); NOPA is overall just fantastic and has exceptional service, also if you are traveling with anyone 21+ they have unbeatable cocktails and a great wine list; Cha-Ya for unpretentious vegan japanese food (way better than it sounds – I’d recommend their tempura and the dengaku especially); The Ice Cream Bar for old-fashioned sodas and ice cream sundaes (think soda jerk); La Palma for great burritos/quesadillas and any sort of Mexican sodas (Mexican coke!)/treats (its a small grocery/taqueria); Bi-Rite Market for edible souvenirs; and finally I’ll second/third the recommendations to check out Tartine, Bi-Rite Creamery, and Mission Chinese (though those all will have a wait).

Oh also, Arizmendi has fantastic pastries and bread, and I’d wager a trip to SF is not complete without a visit to the Saturday Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market (though it is a bit touristy, hey, you’re a tourist), the combination of food stalls, permanent food shops (hello Cowgirl Creamery, Miette, Ciao Bella, Out the Door, Blue Bottle, etc) and friendly farmers selling exceptional produce is hard to beat.

Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market. Buy some bread at Acme and some cheese (Mt. Tam is a favorite) at Cowgirl Creamery and get a coffee at Blue Bottle. The market is amazing. Speaking of chocolate sauce, you can visit Ghiradelli. Touristy, but that’s okay.

I’ve just started following your blog. I found it through another, and I hit the subscribe button as soon as I saw this recipe. Your photography is amazing and this sauce looks like it could solve problems. Can’t wait to try it! One thing, I’m in New Zealand and we don’t have any of those chocolate brands here. What percentage of cocoa would you suggest?

Love that you used golden syrup for this! My Dad is English and whenever we over to England to visit family, we always bring back tins (well, now they have squeeze bottles, which is more convenient) of it. Black golden syrup is nice too! So good with Treacle pudding :)

To my horror, I saw my dad topping his ice cream last night with Smuckers and realized that i’d put off making this for far too long. Took a special trip to the store (appears we use up chocolate in this household at an alarmingly unhealthy rate) but the outcome was rich, smooth, and a perfect balance of flavors. so thank you for the recipe. hope your trip to san fran was awesome.

Thanks! must try since I couldn’t find any in my fridge last night. I do know you can buy Lyle’s golden syrup online at my favorite british imports shop here in the US: http://britishislesonline.com/lylesgoldensyrup325ml.aspx
yum!
Have you ever added any cinnamon or cayenne to this?

[…] chocolate sauce recipe, I turned to my friend’s the Sophisticated Gourmet. He has a fantastic chocolate sauce recipe with gorgeous photos that are “imprinted” in my mind. If you don’t have time to […]

that looks scrumptious! your beautiful photography makes it look even more divine! I am going to freeze up some home made vanilla bean ice cream tonight & so I can’t wait to follow your recipe here and add a little chocolateness to my sweetness